Essential reads & resources

At Seven Starling, we often remind patients of something simple but deeply important: healing is not meant to happen alone.

In individual therapy, there is space to focus on your unique story, your emotions, and your goals. In group therapy, there is an added kind of healing — the kind that comes from being with others who understand. It is the relief of hearing someone else put words to something you have felt but have not known how to say. It is the comfort of realizing you are not the only one navigating this season. It is the power of community.

That is why group therapy is such an important part of the care we offer at Seven Starling. Our groups are therapist-led, trauma-informed spaces where patients can feel supported, validated, and connected to others in a similar stage of the journey. As a clinician and group facilitator, I have seen how meaningful it can be when someone realizes they do not have to carry everything on their own.

About Seven Starling groups

Seven Starling groups are designed to support patients through meaningful transitions in a woman’s life, from fertility and family-building to postpartum, parenting, healing after loss or trauma, and menopause. We offer groups tailored to specific experiences so patients can connect with others who are in a similar season of life and receive support that feels relevant to what they are actually living through.

Each group is led by a clinician and centered on shared understanding, emotional support, and practical tools for coping and healing. Just as importantly, group content aligns with the journey stage a patient is working on in individual therapy. That means the themes, reflections, and skills explored in group are designed to reinforce and deepen the work already happening in your one-on-one sessions and in the app.

Group therapy is not separate from care. It is an extension of it — a space to reflect, practice, and feel supported in community while continuing to build on the insights from individual therapy.

The Seven Seasons Framework

Our groups are guided by the Seven Seasons Framework, a gentle, non-linear approach that reflects how healing and growth actually happen.

Rather than expecting progress to move in a straight line, the Seven Seasons Framework makes space for the reality that people revisit, reprocess, and evolve over time. Across different stages of the journey, patients may experience seasons of grounding, awareness, balance, blooming, connection, nesting, and renewal. Each season offers its own opportunities for reflection, skill-building, and support.

From a clinical perspective, this framework matters because it honors real life. Some weeks call for stability and grounding. Others invite connection, insight, or renewal. There is no right pace and no single way to move through change. Our groups are designed to meet patients where they are, while helping deepen the work they are already doing in individual therapy.

Groups for different journey stages

One of the most important parts of the Seven Starling group experience is that support is matched to where someone is in their journey.

We currently offer groups for patients navigating:

• Fertility — for those moving through uncertainty, waiting, grief, medical stress, and identity challenges related to trying to conceive
• Pregnancy — for those processing the large physical and emotional changes that come with pregnancy and motherhood
• Postpartum — for those adjusting to the emotional, relational, and identity shifts that can come with new motherhood
• Toddlerhood — for those parenting through the intensity, joy, overstimulation, and emotional demands of the toddler years
• Perinatal Trauma — for those healing from pregnancy, birth, or medical experiences that felt overwhelming, frightening, or traumatic
• Perinatal Loss — for those grieving miscarriage, stillbirth, or other forms of perinatal loss and seeking a compassionate space to process and be witnessed
• Menopause — for those navigating the emotional, physical, relational, and identity shifts that can come with the menopause transition

What to expect

It is completely normal to feel a little nervous before joining your first group. Many patients wonder whether they will be expected to share right away, or whether group therapy will feel intimidating.

The answer is no — there is no pressure to share before you are ready.

Listening is a meaningful form of participation. Many patients find that simply hearing others speak about similar emotions or experiences helps them feel less alone and more understood. Over time, as trust builds, many find themselves opening up naturally. But patients are always welcome to share as much or as little as feels right for them.

Groups are designed to feel supportive, structured, and grounded. Sessions often include a check-in, a themed discussion, clinician guidance, group reflection, and practical tools that patients can carry back into daily life. In many cases, those tools and reflections also help strengthen the work patients are doing in individual therapy.

You can expect:

• A therapist-led, trauma-informed space
• A small group of peers in a similar journey stage
• No pressure to share before feeling ready
• Mindfulness, reflection, and practical coping tools
• Discussion topics tailored to the stage they are actively navigating
• A confidential, supportive environment rooted in connection and care

What is offered

Depending on the group, sessions may include psychoeducation about common emotional experiences, grounding and mindfulness practices, nervous system regulation tools, guided reflection, and discussion about themes that are especially relevant to that stage of the journey.

Patients may also build skills around coping, self-compassion, boundaries, identity shifts, communication, and emotional processing. Often, something a patient has begun to explore in individual care becomes more normalized, more embodied, and more deeply understood when they hear it reflected in a group of people navigating something similar.

The positive impact of groups

One of the most powerful shifts I witness in group therapy is the movement from isolation to connection.

Someone may come in feeling overwhelmed, ashamed, uncertain, or alone. Then they hear another person describe something strikingly familiar. There is a visible softening. A sense of relief. A recognition that what they are feeling is not a personal failure, but a human response to a difficult or transformative experience.

That is the power of group therapy.

Groups can offer patients:

• Connection with others who truly understand
• Validation and normalization of their experience
• Greater confidence and self-compassion
• Practical tools for coping and emotional regulation
• A sense of belonging during a season that may otherwise feel isolating
• The chance to reinforce and deepen what they are already learning in individual therapy

Community does not erase our challenges, but it can make our challenges feel more bearable. It can help patients feel more resourced, more hopeful, and more supported. And for many, it becomes a powerful reminder that they do not have to navigate this season on their own.

Hear from our community

“Love this group and don’t know how my healing journey would be going without it”

“Great insight and material from the therapist, incredible perspectives from the group members. My heart grew”.

“I had no idea how much I needed this group. The facilitator is wonderful and I’m so grateful for the chance to build this community”

You might include reflections about:

• feeling less alone
• feeling understood by others in a similar stage
• learning practical tools to cope
• gaining confidence, hope, or self-compassion
• appreciating how group reinforced the work they were already doing in individual therapy

How to Make the Most of Your Group Session

1. Be present

Join your sessions on time and as focused as possible. Keep your camera on during sessions, though it is completely okay if you need to step away for a few minutes. By actively participating and contributing to your group dynamic, you will get the most out of the experience.

2. Find a distraction-free space

Please join your sessions from a quiet, private, distraction-free place so you can fully focus on the session.

3. Respect your group’s privacy

What’s shared in session stays within the group. We encourage you to be as present as possible so you can get the most from the experience.

4. Practice kindness and honor different experiences

Members of your group bring different lived experiences, perspectives, and identities. Enter each session with the intention of helping create an open, respectful space for different opinions, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs.

You Might Be Wondering...

Who is in my group?
Your group is based on the care journey you selected, or the group you and your therapist chose together. It includes other women in a similar stage of life.

Who leads my group?
Your group is led by a licensed therapist trained in the Seven Starling group method and trauma-informed care.

What if I don’t feel like sharing? Can I still be in the group?
Absolutely. You can share as much or as little as feels right for you, and listening is also a meaningful way to participate.

Are groups confidential?
Yes. We ask all members to respect group confidentiality and keep what is shared in session private.

Can I bring my baby to my postpartum group? What if I’m nursing or pumping and want to go off camera for a few minutes?
Yes. We understand that caring for your baby is part of postpartum life, and you’re welcome to step off camera if needed.

Can I just try one session, or do I need to commit for a certain amount of time?
You’re welcome to try a session and see how it feels. There is no obligation to stay if the group is not the right fit for you.

How do I sign up?
Tell your provider you’d like to join a group, or email support@sevenstarling.com.

Final thoughts

Wherever someone is in their journey — trying to conceive, adjusting to postpartum life, parenting through toddlerhood, healing from trauma, grieving a loss, or navigating menopause — group therapy can offer something deeply important: a place to be supported in community.

At Seven Starling, we believe healing unfolds in seasons. We also believe no one should have to move through those seasons alone. Our groups are designed to offer connection, reflection, and clinically grounded support at every stage, while reinforcing the work patients are already doing in individual therapy.

Because sometimes one of the most healing things a person can hear is: you are not alone in this.

How to sign up

If you are interested in joining a Seven Starling group, there are two easy ways to get started:

Tell your Seven Starling providers that you would like to join a group, or email support@sevenstarling.com.

Our team can help guide you to the group that best fits your current stage and needs.

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